Liguria

Walking, Cooking, Eating, and Drinking in and around the Cinque Terre
with Pamela Sheldon Johns

Euro 2850/person, double occupancy Includes 5 nights four-star accommodations, all meals/beverages, classes/visits/tastings, guides, and ground transportation (arrive/depart Levanto)

We are very pleased to offer this itinerary with Pamela Sheldon Johns, a licensed Tour Escort who has spent a great amount off time in this area. Our home base is in Levanto, a Slow Food City, which means they care a lot about good food and wine! We are three minutes by train from the National Park and protected marine reserve of the Cinque Terre. “The Five Lands” of the Cinque Terre are Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. These tiny, remote fishing villages are strung along the coast northwest of La Spezia, connected only by boat, rail, and footpaths… no cars.

In addition to the Cinque Terre, we will reach some other special places along the coast and inland, in search of good walks, good food, and good wine.

The region of Liguria has the benefit of a long coastline protected by mountains, giving it a climate inducive to a longer growing season and the production of full-flavored ingredients such as olives, grapes, basil, vegetables, anchovies and other fresh seafood, chickpeas, lemons, wild herbs, walnuts, and pine nuts. These ingredients have evolved into traditional recipes that are still respected today.

Along our walks, we’ll forage for ingredients to take to our hands-on cooking classes where you will make the local traditional specialties such as pesto, of course, the Ligurian fresh pasta, and you will learn to fillet a whole fish. You will discover dishes found only here, the addictive gattafin, a fried raviolo made with wild greens, muscoli ripieni, a special pasta called croxetti, and several appetizers using the local fresh anchovies, a Slow Food specialty... all paired with the stunning Ligurian wines.

The Cinque Terre produce two unique wines, Cinque Terre DOC, a dry, white wine and Sciacchetrà, a dessert wine, the coastal Ligurian Vermentino is fresh and minerally...and we mustn’t forget the limoncino!

We will have daily walks escorted by a walking and historic guide. The level of exercise is moderate, always with other alternatives if we have advance requests.

Groups of five or more can book an exclusive week any time year-round. Please contact us for more details and information regarding dates and availability.